Garment pattern weight

ABSTRACT

This is a weight for firmly and demountably positioning one sheet member, such as a pattern or other reference shape, in contact with a second sheet member, such as cloth or other material, to be formed like the reference shape. The weight includes easily positioned, removable gripping supports.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,813,727 Borer, Jr. et a1. June 4, 1974154] GARMENT PATTERN WEIGHT 2,814,274 11/1957 Diamond 16/1 2,814,27511/1957 Diamond 16/1 176] Inventors: John Pamela 3,189,077 6/1965Willis, Jr. et a1 85/51 x Borer, both of 6014 El Canon Ave, WoodlandHill C lif, 91364 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS J 5, Great Britain[21] Appl- 3231975 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay

Assistant Examiner-William E. Lyddane [52] U.S. Cl. 16/1, l6/D1G. 8 [51]Int. Cl.f 57 ABSTRACT [58] Field 0 Search 6/ This is a weight for firmlyand demountably positionmg one sheet member, such as a pattern or otherref- [56] References Cited erence shape, in contact with a second sheetmember, such as cloth or other material, to be formed like the UNITEDSTATES PATENTS reference shape. The weight includes easily posi- Bmwnsontioned removable upports 1,915,640 6/1933 Alsuker 85/51 2,026.45412/1935 Benzing 85/51 X 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures FIELD OF THEINVENTION This invention relates generally to a weight member formaintaining two or more objects in firm contact, and more particularlyto a weight adapted to maintain a pattern in contact with one or morepieces or sheets of material wherein the weight is adapted to alsoinclude specific removable gripping supports in the event that a morefirm contact is desired between the pattern and the sheets of material.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Presently there is a renewed interest indo-ityourself projects. As part of this interest, many women, and evensome men, are making their own clothing and other accessories. Most ofthe sewing necessary to produce such clothing and accessories will beperformed in the home where professional devices and other objects usedin the garment industry are not available. Therefore, it has becomedesirable to develop an improved, reliable, and simple device to be usedin the home to maintain contact between a pattern and the material to becut into a garment. This is particularly important since the miscuttingor misshaping of the segments ofa garment will materially affect thefinished product.

Heretofore seamstresses have used straight pins or other sharp objectsto attach the pattern to the material. Such pins frequently result indamage to the material or in frustration to the seamstress, sincetheyare sharp and can be easily lost or misplaced. To overcome this problem,a seamstress frequently uses any weighted object at hand, such as a pairof scissors or a book. Such use of substitute objects has obviousdisadvantages. Recently a product was introduced which permits theseamstress to spray a coating of light adhesive on the pattern. This toohas disadvantages because the adhesive may be transferred to the surfaceof the material while the pattern is in contact with the material. Asnoted above. each of the devices or techniques presently used tomaintain contact between a pattern and material has certaindisadvantages. To overcome such disadvantages, the presently improvedgarment pattern weight has been developed.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedgarment pattern weight which is easy to position but which, after beingpositioned, will maintain a pattern in firm contact with one or moresheets or pieces of material.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedpattern weight which can be adapted to include gripping feet tofacilitate the maintenance of contact between a pattern and one or moresheets or pieces of material.

A still further object of this invention is to provie an improvedpattern weight which has a shape that does not hinder the cutting of thematerial at the edge of the pattern.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a patternweight which can be easily stored when not in use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects are accomplishedaccording to the present invention in a garment pattern weight which hasa weighted member and a flexible casing for the weighted member. Thecasing includes a plurality of detents into which gripping feet in theform of a conventional thumbtack can be demountably inserted ifincreased gripping is desired. To facilitate the insertion of thegripping feet, in one embodiment. a plurality of slots and guidesurfaces are associated with each of the detents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the accompanyingdrawings in which similar reference characters denote the same parts andin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention showing theapplication of the invention to maintain contact between a pattern andpieces or sheets of material.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an improved pattern weight constructedin accordance with the principles of the present invention andillustrating one embodiment of these principles, and in which a portionof the weight is cut away to show the slot and bore adapted to receive agripping foot.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view ofa section of the casing, illustrating theslot and bore for the gripping feet and showing a gripping foot beingguided toward the slot by the outer edge of the casing.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an improved pattern weight constructedin accordance with the principles of the present invention andillustrating a second embodiment and in which a portion of the weightedmember is cut away to show the detent and bore.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a typicalapplication of the improved pattern weight of the present invention isits use to maintain a pattern 12 ofa very thin material such as paper incontact with one or more pieces or sheets of material 14 such as cloth.As can be seen in this Figure, a plurality of pattern weights 10, 11 areplaced on top of the pattern 12 so that the pattern can maintain contactwith the pieces of material 14. Also illustrated in this Figure is theuse of pattern weights of different sizes, each constructed inaccordance with the principles of this invention. Typically, smallerweights 11 are used to hold the pattern near the center or away from theedge to be cut, while the larger weights 10 are used near the edge.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 2 and 3, the improved pattern weight10 of the present invention comprises a weighted member 16, such as aring of iron, and a casing 18 of a relatively smooth, resilientmaterial, such as flexible plastic, which covers at least a portion ofthe weighted member. Since one surface of the weight in mostapplications will be in contact with the pattern, at least that onesurface of the weight is flat. However, for some applications, it may bedesirable for the surface of the casing opposite the one flat surface toalso be flat. This use will be explained later.

To attach the casing 18 to the weighted member 16, a plurality offlanges 20, 21 extend upward from both the outer and the inner edge ofthe casing 18. The

flanges each have a first leg 22 of a height slightly greater than thethickness of the weighted member 16 and a second leg 24 of a widthsufficient to maintain the weighted member in contact with the casing18. In this preferred embodiment, the flanges 20, 21 are not continuousand, as clearly shown in FIG. 2, comprise discontinuous portions. Formaximum integrity of the easing 18 and the weighted member 16 when theyare pressed together, the discontinuous portion of the flange 21 at theinner edge ofthe casing 18 should each oppose a discontinuous portion ofthe flange 22 at the outer edge.

A plurality of tapered slots 26 extend inwardly from the outer edge ofthe casing. Each slot 26 is located between adjacent discontinuousportions of the outer flange 20, and terminates in a detent 27 having acentral bore 28. Each slot 26 has a width nearest the outer edge of thecasing which is greater than the width of the slot 26 nearest the bore28. The diameter of the bore is substantially similar to the diameter ofa gripping support member or foot 34, such as a conventional thumbtack,which may be positioned in the bore 28 and is slightly greater than thewidth of the slot 26 adjacent to the bore.

The outer edge of the casing 18 near the opposing sides of each slotprojects outwardly so that it may be shaped into a guide surfaces 30, 32which terminates at the edge of the slot. Thus, as clearly seen in FIG.4, a gripping support 34, shown diagrammatically as a thumbtack, will beguided by the guide surface 30 into the slot 26. Once the grippingsupport 34 is in the slot 26, it can be laterally advanced in the slot.resulting in a deflection of the flexible material ofthe casing topermit the gripping support 34 to be secured in the detent 27 and bore28. Because the width of the slot 26 near the bore 28 is slightly lessthan the diameter of the bore 28, once the gripping support 34 has beeninserted into the bore 28, it will be retained therein against lateralmovement.

Typically, the gripping support 34 will comprise a conventionalthumbtack which has a relatively flat head 33 and an elongated shaft 34terminating in a sharp point. [t has been found that the grippingsupport particularly is used to hold a pattern in contact with severalpieces of material since it is common practice to cut at the same timetwo pieces of a garment from a single pattern. To receive the head 33,the detent 27 in the casing 18 surrounding each of the bores 28 has adiameter and a depth substantially similar to the diameter and thicknessof the tack head 33. This permits the tack head 33 to be retained in thedetent 27 generally flush with the adjacent surface of the casing 18.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the improved pattern weightconstructed in accordance with the invention in which the outer flange36 and the inner flange 38 of the casing 39 are continuous and the slotsand guide surfaces of the first embodiment have been eliminated. Thus.each of the gripping supports 34 is inserted in the bore 42 and seatedin the detent 40 before the weighted member 16 is snapped intoengagement with the casing 39.

As previously mentioned, it may be desirable for both major surfaces ofthe pattern weight to be relatively flat and such a configuration isshown in both the illustrated embodiments. This configuration isparticularly desirable when the gripping supports are in position andthe casing has been snapped into engagement with the weighted member. ifthe surface of the weight opposite the surface from which the supportextends is flat, the seamstress can simply turn the weight over when shedesires to use the weight without the gripping supportsv We claim:

1. A garment pattern weight comprising:

a weighted member having at least one relatively flat surface;

a flexible casing for said weighted member adapted to be demountablyattached to said member to cover at least said flat surface, said casingincluding a plurality of bores;

a flexible flange on said casing extending from said flat surface alongeach of the edges thereof. said flange having a first leg portionperpendicular to said flat surface and of a width slightly greater thanthe thickness of said weighted member and a second leg portion parallelto said flat surface and of a width sufficient to retain said casing inengage ment with said weighted member;

a plurality of slots in said casing, each extending form one of theedges of the casing and terminating in one of said bores, each of saidslots having a first width at the edge of said flat surface greater thana second width near said bore and said second width having a dimensionless than the diameter of said bore; and

a support member demountably positioned in each of said bores andextending therefrom into a patternengaging tip.

2. The garment pattern weight of claim 1 wherein each of said bores issurrounded by a detent adapted to contain said support member.

3. The garment pattern weight of claim 1 wherein said casing includes aplurality of guide surfaces along one of the edges of said flat surface,each of which is adjacent to and terminating at one of said slots.

4. The garment pattern weight of claim 1 wherein the weighted member hasa ring-like shape and each of said flexible flanges of said casingincludes a plurality of portions, each of which opposes one of theportions of the other flexible flange.

1. A garment pattern weight comprising: a weighted member having atleast one relatively flat surface; a flexible casing for said weightedmember adapted to be demountably attached to said member to cover atleast said flat surface, said casing including a plurality of bores; aflexible flange on said casing extending from said flat surface alongeach of the edges thereof, said flange having a first leg portionperpendicular to said flat surface and of a width slightly greater thanthe thickness of said weighted member and a second leg portion parallelto said flat surface and of a width sufficient to retain said casing inengagement with said weighted member; a plurality of slots in saidcasing, each extending form one of the edges of the casing andterminating in one of said bores, each of said slots having a firstwidth at the edge of said flat surface greater than a second width nearsaid bore and said second width having a dimension less than thediameter of said bore; and a support member demountably positioned ineach of said bores and exTending therefrom into a pattern-engaging tip.2. The garment pattern weight of claim 1 wherein each of said bores issurrounded by a detent adapted to contain said support member.
 3. Thegarment pattern weight of claim 1 wherein said casing includes aplurality of guide surfaces along one of the edges of said flat surface,each of which is adjacent to and terminating at one of said slots. 4.The garment pattern weight of claim 1 wherein the weighted member has aring-like shape and each of said flexible flanges of said casingincludes a plurality of portions, each of which opposes one of theportions of the other flexible flange.